via Examiner.com by Cole Waterman Top 11 indie albums of 2011 3. Twilight Singers, Dynamite Steps (Sub Pop) — Greg Dulli and company’s first studio LP since 2006 finds the common themes firmly in place—hedonism, lust, and the resentment and regret that come with the light of day. Dulli’s impressionistic lyrics exorcise his demons through all manner of late night fantasies while the bastardized concoction of rock, soul, and electronica provides a suitably noir atmosphere. The piano-led “Get Lucky” is Dulli at his most self-deprecating…

Chartattack.com 3.5/5 By Ian Gormely Greg Dulli’s status as a ’90s alt.rock star would have been cemented with his work in Afghan Whigs. While the band never reached the commercial heights of many of their peers, Dulli could retire happy knowing he’d had a hand in one of the more interesting bands to come out of the decade’s alternative explosion. Instead, Dulli has taken a route similar to fellow ’90s lone wolf Mike Patton. Dulli’s proved himself to be a prolific songwriter and has carved…

Stereophile.com – Recording on the Month for May 2011 Performance **** Sonics **** By Robert Baird Unleash “Retarded,” the unforgettable first track of Up In It (1990), the Afghan Whigs’ first Sub Pop album—the one with the eerie stitched-up hand on the cover—and immediately the madness seeps out. No one has ever done the angry leer and tormented spat quite like AW singer/songwriter Greg Dulli. As the charismatic leader of one of the nastiest, hardest-edged live acts ever to prowl a 1990s indie-rock stage, he…

Washingtonpost.com Editors’ Pick It’s a grim world where the Twilight Singers live. Singer Greg Dulli populates the lyrical landscape of the band’s new album, “Dynamite Steps,” with suspicious characters and dark imagery, frequently referencing gunplay, the devil, fire and blood. “Muddy water, broken glass / I can feel you from the inside now,” the former Afghan Whigs singer belts on “Waves” over a sea of crashing guitars and a menacingly thumbed bass line. “Born a liar, obfuscate / Step aside while I manipulate.” Dulli’s backing…

Adequacy.net Dulli is on his greatest winning streak since the Afghan Whigs disbanded. The album sways and moves in ways we haven’t seen since 1998′s 1965. Dynamite Steps sits comfortably in his canon, and that is perhaps the perfect compliment.

3 1/2 stars (out of 4) | Madison.com But on the fifth album released under the Twilight banner, the crew finally comes fully into their own, delivering a dense, dark masterwork that can stand proudly alongside anything released by the Whigs. – Andy Downing

Newsday.com – Subscription Required GRADE A BOTTOM LINE Another masterful look at the dark end of the street. … “Dynamite Steps” shows why Dulli is one of the raresongwriters who gets better with age and has set the bar for 2011’s album of the year very, very high.